Don’t Look Back!

Most of us know the story of how God powerfully delivered the Israelites from their Egyptian oppressors.  With the Egyptians hot on their heals, He miraculously brought them through the Red Sea.  He then took them by the hand on the way to a beautiful place he had meticulously prepared for them.  However, in order to get to that beautiful Promised Land, they had to first go through the wilderness.  As they traveled through that dry, hot, miserable place they began thinking about Egypt.  They thought about the shelter they had, the meat they ate and all the “comforts” they enjoyed back in Egypt, which they lacked in the wilderness.  As a result, they did the unthinkable.  They cried out and voiced their desire to go back!

When thinking about the past, old relationships that didn’t work, we tend to sometimes romanticize them, remembering only the good.  We forget why it didn’t work. Somehow, we forget that we were “slaves,” not happy and being held back from our full potential.  Our present situation (loneliness) seems so dire that it tends to mask the horribleness of the past, making us willing to actually do the unthinkable – compromise our standards, and even worse, our self-respect!  What we should be viewing as a bad match and a much less than ideal situation, we now view as the best thing ever that somehow we can’t imagine living without!  Sure, there are some relationships that ended prematurely and were not inherently bad.  The timing may just have been wrong.  These relationships may have the potential of working out in the future.  Yes, it is possible that God may restore those, IF HE CHOOSES!  But we should be willing to leave that choice in His hands.  However, there are other relationships that have no business being resurrected.  And in your heart, you know which ones those are.

It is important when remembering any relationship, that you remember ALL of it – both the good AND the bad!  Yes!  You had meat in Egypt, but you were oppressed.  Yes!  You had plenty to eat, but you were not respected.  Yes!  You didn’t have to endure the hardships of wandering around in the fiercely hot sun of the wilderness, but you were confined, being held back from God’s pre-ordained purpose for your life.  You were not fully happy in Egypt!  Why go back?  But oh!  You may think that being in Egypt beats wandering around in the blazing hot sun of the wilderness of loneliness, rejection and your ever-increasing desire for sexual intimacy.  But I would just like to remind you that you are forgetting one very important thing.  Your wilderness is just the path to your promised land!  It’s the process, not the final outcome!  It’s a means to an end, NOT your destination!  AFTER THIS, comes your promised land!  You are in transition…on your way to something better, bigger, brighter and more beautiful than you can ever imagine.  Stop comparing your Egypt to your wilderness!  Instead, compare Egypt to your promised land and you’ll find that there’s no comparison!!!  God promises that it will be worth your struggle.  “Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning!” Psalms 30:5 (New Living Translation) Just get to the morning!  Let go of your past, push forward through your wilderness and get to your promised land!  And the most glorious thought of all is, there IS a promised land!  When we believe this, we will finally be happy, knowing that the best is yet to come AND is on the way!

Don’t miss out on what’s coming, just because you refuse to let go and believe.  No!  Believe and refuse to go back…and be at peace!